


The Nizam of Hyderabad, Chapter 2: Aut Pax, Aut Bellum

by SirJosephBanksFRS



Series: The Nizam of Hyderabad [2]
Category: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 08:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirJosephBanksFRS/pseuds/SirJosephBanksFRS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie tells Stephen that all play and no work makes Jack a fractious boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nizam of Hyderabad, Chapter 2: Aut Pax, Aut Bellum

The chaise came to a halt and when Stephen looked up, Sophie was smiling and rushing towards him as he disembarked. One strand of blonde hair had escaped her ministrations and fell in a curled tendril most entrancingly from her forehead and her large grey eyes were sparkling in the sun.

“You are in very fine looks today, my dear,” Stephen said, taking Sophie’s hand and kissing it. “You only grow more beautiful with every passing year.” Sophie smiled and blushed very prettily. Stephen meant every word he said; it was no empty flattery. She was, now in middle age, an even more strikingly beautiful woman; tall, willowy, lithe, a very fine figure of a woman. She took his arm and led him to the side of the house, for them to walk the long way around alone together.

“Stephen, Jack is far better now than before he left for Catalunya with you.” She said. “I do not know how to phrase such a thing, but have you any influence at the Admiralty? Is it possible that you could say something to someone, perhaps the Duke of Clarence, so that Jack might have another commission?” He looked at her sharply. Her face was all openness and her eyes were sad.

“But, why, Sophie, my dear? I thought you should be so very happy to have him home now, at last, more or less permanently. Is that not what you have desired for years, indeed, virtually the entire time I have known you? Have you not been waiting for this eventuality?”

“It is not me, Stephen. I know I sound a most ungrateful wretch. It is not me, for my part, I should prefer he never go to sea again. But you see the difference in him from before you left to now. You see what being aboard a ship does for him. He is so unhappy being on land with no prospect of a ship. He has never said anything, would never say anything. I cannot believe that I am saying this, but I should prefer that he go out on a commission for another two or three years now than that in fifteen years or more when he cannot go, he pines away thinking of what might have been.”

“My dear, I have no influence whatever. Not in the naval line, if it does not involve recommending a bolus or a surgical manoeuvre. Sure you should know that after all these years. If it were not for Jack, I should never have gone to sea at all. My services are not in demand in the least.” Stephen said.

“He has _Ringle_ and I have suggested to him that he go on a long pleasure trip in her. He looked at me as though he thought I were quite mad, as though I were suggesting that he ride to London and turn around and come home for no reason. He asked me should I not wish to go to the Mediterranean with him after Christmas and I said no.” Sophie said, her lip quivering. “Stephen, pray never, ever speak of it to Jack, but I do not enjoy the sea. I do not enjoy sailing. It is a near blasphemous and a shameful thing for the wife of any Admiral to say, let alone the wife of a famous naval hero like Jack, but truly, I do not enjoy it. I dread it. I dread the seasickness, it reminds me so of, well, right before the twins were born. I had less of a tendency for seasickness before I had babies. The older I get, the worse it seems to be. Had Jack not been a sailor, I should never have gone to sea, ever.” She looked at her hands. “Oh, dear, I never should have guessed that it would come to this that I would wish that he would have a commission, be gone for a year or more and then come back for three or four months and that he keep doing so until he could no longer walk the quarterdeck. For that is what makes him truly happy, not poking around at home." They walked over towards the quince trees, planted by Jack’s great great grandfather and now covered with green fruit.

“There is a cruel irony that a man becomes a sailor to toil away in the ocean blue as a child and once he is accustomed to nothing else, indeed is almost fit for nothing else, he has advanced so far in rank that there is no work for him.” Stephen said.

“Stephen, would you, “ She looked into his face. “Would you, could you, could you somehow find some way for him to take a voyage and command _Surprise_? To command her without a commission from the Admiralty? I know that it is beyond presumptuous for me to ask such a thing of you, that it is a tremendous expense to outfit a ship and hire a crew. I understand that taking her as you did for your hydrographical voyage to Chile is not being a naval commander and engaged in warfare, but it is more to Jack’s taste than sitting at home and watching the grass grow and the seasons change. Jack seems to age on land far faster than he does at sea. His old wounds trouble him, perhaps because there is nothing to distract him. He can even be somewhat...” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “...querulous. And that is not what Jack is like, as you well know. Fanny and Charlotte were quarrelling yesterday -- not with Brigid, mind you, just amongst themselves-- and Jack told them "avast that goddamned noise" or he would have Killick rig the grating in the stable and said he, himself would mete out a dozen to each of them to “stop their damned caterwauling.""

"Did they stop?" Stephen said.

"They came running to me, shrieking that Papa was ready to flay them alive." She sighed. “He is not so very used to older children that he cannot command with naval discipline. It was different when they were younger. Thank goodness they shall be returning to school soon. He finds Brigid so much more agreeable, Stephen, for she is so bookish.”

“I am very glad to hear it. As for _Surprise_ , I hardly know what to answer. I shall consider it, my dear, but more than that, I shall make some discreet inquiries, perhaps at the Royal Society, though things are in an upheaval since dear Sir Joseph Banks is no longer amongst us, may he rest in peace. It is the pity of the world, though the poor dear gentleman was very elderly and in great unceasing pain at the end. I cannot promise anything, cannot come close to promising anything. Jack would never be happy with an empty, make work proposition, he should see through it immediately. He is an admiral, a man of great standing and honour and he would no more agree to be sent on a fool’s errand than would I. But I should never say never.” She took both his hands in hers and squeezed them.

“Thank you so very much, Stephen, my dear.” They both looked up, hearing the sound of horses’ hooves coming up the drive. “That is very strange.” Sophie said and they continued walking and a few minutes later, Fanny, Charlotte and Brigid all came running towards them shouting and jumping up and down.

“Mama! Mama!” Fanny’s shrill voice triumphed over those of her sister and cousin, “There is a Marine, Mama, with a letter from the Admiralty for Papa!” Stephen and Sophie looked at each other in surprise and turned back towards the house.


End file.
